Flanders and Swann - Career

Credits

They met at Westminster School in 1936 and then at Oxford University in 1940, where Michael was a distinguished student actor.

In the late Forties and Fifties they wrote some songs for Laurier Lister's revues such as Penny Plain (1951) and Airs On A Shoestring (1953) but wanted to perform their material themselves.

Their performing career started when they hired the New Lindsey Theatre Club on New Year's Eve 1956. Word soon got round and they had to move to the larger Fortune Theatre, where the revue ran for two and a half years.

Between 1959 and 1967 they occasionally toured with their revue At The Drop Of A Hat. In all they performed 1,700 times over 11 years.

They made a number of records with producer George Martin.

They made very few TV appearances: one in the U.S. is available on video and an early 60s BBC one was shown again at Christmas 1995.

Separately both of them made many radio and TV appearances.

At The Drop Of A Hat

Donald Swann's autobiography Swann's Way - A Life In Song is published by William Heinemann.


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